Collapsible toothbrush



Ac. w. LLOYD. COLLAPSIBLE TOOTHBRUSH.

APPLICATION) FILED l)UNE I4, 1918- IIII by declare that the following is a full, clear,

-and exact' description of the same,'reference UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CONVERSE W. LLOYD, OF NW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO L. LYNN LLOYD, OF

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

oorLAPsIBLE. TOOTHBRUSH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May-17', 1923i.

Appneation mea :une 1 4, 191s. serial No. 239.935.

To .all whom t may concern: p

Be it known that I, CONVERSE W. LLOYD, a citizen of the United States, and a-resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new a'nd useful Improvements in a Collapsible Toothbrush; and l do herebeing had lto the accompanying drawings,

and to the numerals of reference markedl thereon, which form a part of this speciication.,

This invention relates to an improved` form of a collapsible tooth brush wherein a tapered handle section of the brush head has the sides thereof slightly inclined toward one another from the outer surface of the handle ,section to the inner surface whereby a wedge hinge construction is aiforded when the handle is pivotally secured between flexible clamping jaws forming a part of the container handle of the device.

It, is an object of this invention to contruct a folding toothbrush having a wedge construction .at the hinged portion thereof adapted to hold the hinged sections of the tooth brush against folding when in open position for use.

Another object of the invention is the construction of a folding tooth brush rovided with a wedge hinge arrangement "'or holding the brush parts in extended position for use, one of said parts apertured to permit hanging up of the tooth brush when folded.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a self draining sanitary folding tooth brush havinga frictional hinge construction between the brush head and the container, said container being formed to permit the brush head when in closed position to seat against a stop and contact the end and side walls of the. container and also affords openings between the brush head and the inner walls of the container to permit ventilation and draining when the tooth' invention Will'be apparent :from thedisclosure in the drawings andspeciiication.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter v of Fig. 3. y

F ig. 7 is an enlarged section taken on line Ze-7 ofv Fig. 1. l f

Fig. 8 is a similarsectional view showing the operation of the frictional mechanisms at the hinged portion of the device.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view of the hinged portion ofthe device in open position.

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line 10--10 of Fig. 4. f

As shown on the drawings: The collapsible tooth brush embraces an outwardly' tapering brush head 1, made ofy ivory, bone, Celluloid or' other suitablenoncorrosive material, having a notch 2, formed on each side thereof. A.' number of bristle tufts 3, are secured in the usual manner, in the inner face of the brush head, and integrally formed on the inner end of said brush head v1, is an outwardly tapering handle section 4, the. side walls of which converge toward one lanother from the outer surface of the handle section to the inner face thereof, as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8, to form a wedge cross-sectioned ortion 5,

in the handle section. As shownin Fig. 9',

the wedge shaped portion 5, of the handle section extends to within a short distance of the outer end ofthe handle section, yThe end of the handle' section to the outside of the wedge portion thereof is pivotally or hingedly connected by means of apivot pin or Vbolt 6,'to a smoothly rounded cup shaped brush container or casing 7, made/Of ivory, bone, Celluloid or other vsuitable material,

Said-'container is open at the top and at its lin ner end which is of reduced channel' cross section and is provided with fiexible integral clamping jaws 8, between which the end of the'handle section 4, is positioned to lieceive the pivot pin 6. The end portions ofv the. clamping jaws 8, to the outside of the l pivot pin 6, are tapered outwardly to permit the tapered handle section to fit between said clamping jaws when the tooth brush is in open *extended position for use. An aperture or opening. 9, is provided in th bottom of the reduced'channel portion of the brush container, to the outside of the pivotv pin 6, to permit the tooth brush to be hung vup when closed..

The outer or closed end'of the container is of increased depth'and width to permit the brush head to be folded into closed position to seat within the container with the reduced en-d of said brush head resting or bearing upon a seat or ledge 10, formed near the top of the inner surface of the closed end-of the container, The ledge 10, limits the inward movement of the brush head in the container, whereby Cthe ends of the various bristle tufts are spaced from the inner surfaces of the container as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

When thetooth brush is closed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the frontor outer end of the brush head l, contacts the inner surface of the closed end of the container, while the widest portion of`the brush head contacts the inner surfaces of the sides of the container, thus affording suitable `Ventilating or draining .openings between the outer edge of the brush head and the inner walls of thev container on each side of the widest portion of the brush head. To .permit the tooth' brush to be readily opened into a position for use, and afford an additional Ventilating means for the tooth brush, a recess. 11, is

formed or cut in the margin of each of the side walls of the container 7, opposite one another in a position to register with the a notches 2, of the brush head when the tooth brush is folded, so that the fingers of a person may engage through said recesses and insaid notchesto frictionally draw the brush head outwardly to rotate on the pivot pin 6,

. into an open position. The depth of the recesses 11, is suliicient to afford Ventilating openingsabetween the side vof the casin 9,

" and the inner surface of the brushhea 1,

when the device-is closed as clearly shown in Fig. 10. Due to the wed across-sectioned portion 5, of the brush ead, the flexible clamping sides or jaws 8, are frictionally sprungoutWardIy, as shown in Fig. 8, during. the opening of the tooth brush, and spring back into normal position clamped against the sides' of the wedge portion 5,4

when the tooth brush isin open extended position for use as shown in Figs. 2 and-7. I am aware that numerous details of construction lmay be 'varied through a wide ples 'of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted yrange without departing from the princiotherwise than necessitated'by the prior art.l

I claim as my invention l l. In a folding tooth brush, the combination of a handle comprising an elongated hollow casing, tapered to form a contracted channeled extension at one end, a brush having a reduced shank pivoted in the channeled extension so as to fol-d down intothe cup shaped casing, said shankhaving the lateral -walls angularly related arid yieldingly engagedy by the side walls ofthe channeled eX- tension to lock the brush in the unfoldedposition.

2. In a folding toothbrush, the combination of a handle comprising an elongated hollow casing with a contracted channeled extension, a, brush having a reduced shank pivoted to the side Walls of the extension at a distance from the end of the: extension so that the bottom of the channeled extension serves as a stop to limit the unfoldin pivoted movement of thebrush, said shan GEO. F. 'BRELsFoRm I MAE BAnNEs. 

